Shinbashi 49 10-09-2009

Location: 12 E. 49th St.
Time: 1pm

Feelings: I wish I worked closer to all the cheap Japanese lunch places on 41st St or 46th St/3rd Ave area. Then I could satisfy my Japanese food cravings with udon or bento box everyday for lunch. I swear when I used to work on 23rd Street, I went to JAS mart (now closed) everyday for lunch. I used to tell my old coworkers, "Ok, I'm going to Japan now." A Japanese girl needs Japanese lunch to get through this tough American work life.

I came across a very small takeout lunch place called Shinbashi 49 on, oddly enough, 49th Street. I have one rule when it comes to judging Japanese restaurants: Do not go to a place named after a city. It is never very good or authentic. Authentic Japanese places would name after their chef's or some other objects that signifies the city they came from. Shinbashi, a district of the city of Tokyo, fits into this do-not-try category. But I was desperate enough to go in and pick myself up a salmon bento ($7).

It was not very good overall. The side of broccoli was really dry and inedible, but the bento still managed to satisfied my Japanese lunch cravings. It is probably the level of Teriyaki Boy. When I am desperate enough and don't have time to go all the way to 41st Street, I might go back to Shinbashi 49 again.